The main goal of this application is to investigate the feasibility of using cellulose-based polymers, i.e., "edible film strips", as a substrate for delivery of taste stimuli to the oral cavity. Recently, edible filmstrips have enjoyed considerable commercial success as "breath fresheners", due to their capacity to rapidly disintegrate when placed on the tongue, thereby releasing an array of flavors, essential oils, and other compounds sequestered in the strip. These features, along with their long shelf life, make them an ideal vehicle for delivering precise amounts of taste stimuli to the mouth. These edible filmstrips will form the basis of a clinical test to assess the sense of taste. No commercial taste tests are currently available. A major impediment in the development of such a test is the widespread use of fresh solutions in traditional taste tests. The innovative use of edible film strips as a means of presenting taste stimuli does away with the need for fresh solutions and opens the possibility of a taste test that is not only easily portable, but is also sensitive and possesses a long shelf-life. Three specific aims are proposed. The first is the development of edible filmstrips containing appropriate concentrations of taste stimuli. The second involves testing the performance characteristics of the formulated edible filmstrips, specifically, speed of dissolution, amount of spread or diffusion, and uniformity of concentration of taste stimuli. Finally, a whole-mouth suprathreshold taste test will be conducted, employing both fresh solutions and edible filmstrips as taste stimuli, to ascertain the utility of using the strips in a taste test. Successful achievement of these aims will form the basis for a Phase II application in which a number of different taste tests incorporating edible filmstrips will be developed. Normative data for these tests will also be collected. Finally, mechanisms for large-scale production of the strips will be established so that the tests can be made commercially available. With the advent of a sensitive, commercially available taste test, and, in conjunction with already commercially available smell tests, health professionals will have at their disposal the necessary tools for easily and accurately assessing the chemoreceptive senses of taste and smell.